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For the first time ever, the number of international students studying in the USA has crossed the one million mark.

Per the 2016 Open Doors report released by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in collaboration with the US department of state’s bureau of educational and cultural affairs, the number of Indian students in the USA increased to 1,65,918 in 2015–16, showing 25% increase compared with the last year (1,33,000 Lakh) and contributing over $5.5 billion to the US economy.

Below figures depict the flow of Indian students in the USA in the last 5 years:

Richard Verma, US ambassador, said: “Higher education continues to be the bedrock of our people to people ties. More students from India studied in the United States than ever before – at all levels – and I am especially pleased to see the record back-to-back, year-on-year growth in student numbers.”

Rajika Bhandari, deputy vice-president, research and evolution, IIE, said: “With the stabilizing of the rupee against the dollar over the past couple of years, Indian students who had put their plans on hold were then able to come to the US. Second, the potential extension of Optional Practical Training (OPT) for up to a total of 36 months for the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields probably encouraged a lot of Indian students in those fields to apply to come to the US. While the extension itself went into effect this May (2016), it is possible that students were optimistic it would come through and were making their plans accordingly.”

Adding to the above points, Bhandari said that staunch visa policies in the UK might be a reason for diverting students more towards the USA.

You will be happy to know that out of every six international students in the United States, one turns out to be an Indian. It has been found that majority of Indian students in the USA take up graduate studies in the Engineering, Management and Computer Science streams.

Moreover, stats reveal that California (149,328 foreign students), New York (114,316) and Texas (82,184 foreign students) are the three leading states favoured by international students every year.

Similarly, New York University (15,543 foreign students) University of Southern California Los Angeles (13,340 foreign students) and Arizona State University in Tempe (12,751 foreign students) were the three top academic destinations to attract foreign students in 2015-16.

Besides India, China contributed a significant share in the number of students studying in the USA. “Students from China and India remained the leading countries of origin and accounted for 84% of the growth in international students in 2015-16. For the second year in a row, the largest growth was in the number of students from India, primarily at the graduate level and in optional practical training (OPT).” says the report.

Other markets which made significant contribution in the USA include Nepal (18%), Vietnam (14%), Nigeria (12%) and Colombia (9%).

As you know, there are many premonitions in the air after the US election results’16 were declared, but it’s too early to say something or cower with fear now! You will have your American dreams and will strive to work towards them, isn’t it?

If you are clear and strong about your goals, then nothing should be considered as an impediment. To help you further, the Open Doors has already made a forecast (below graph) on the number of Indian students in the USA from 2005 to 2020. As you can see, the achieved figures (2015-16) are higher than the predicted ones so do not lose hope.

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